According to Yonhap News,
Global big tech companies, including Google Cloud, Amazon, and NVIDIA, which rank among the top five in market capitalization on the global stock markets, are flocking to Cheonan, Chungnam-do.
This is because, since being selected for the government's hub-type smart city development project in June of last year, Cheonan has been promoting the introduction of various innovative technologies in collaboration with domestic companies and related organizations, based on information technology (IT) such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud, and 3D solutions.
Starting with a memorandum of understanding signed in November last year with Dassault Systèmes, a French virtual twin solution company, to cooperate on smart city development, the city signed an agreement with Amazon to revitalize the smart city industry ecosystem and establish a global cooperation framework in December.
This year, the city has held discussions with companies like Google Cloud on related education, workforce training, startup support, and assistance with international expansion.
The city also held a meeting with NVIDIA, a leader in AI semiconductors, to discuss smart city projects on January 13.
The city is pursuing a two-track strategy to foster local industries based on the technological expertise of companies and institutions, while developing a hub-type smart city.
The goal is to incorporate global IT companies’ technologies into administrative services and policies, allowing citizens to directly experience the smart city. Additionally, the city plans to focus on consulting, technical advice, and validation to help promising local startups enter global markets, boosting corporate development and regional economic revitalization.
Dassault Systèmes will focus on 3D solutions, Google Cloud on AI, Amazon on cloud, and NVIDIA on AI semiconductors, each with plans to work towards talent development and various demonstration projects related to their core fields, based in the region.
The city will pursue a smart city development project worth KRW 38 billion by 2026, including KRW 16 billion from the national government, KRW 16 billion from the local government, and KRW 6 billion from private investments. This project will be centered around the Cheonan Station Innovation District and linked to the smart green industrial park and campus innovation park.
For this purpose, the city signed an agreement with a consortium of 11 institutions, including SK Planet and the Cheonan Science and Industry Promotion Agency, to implement the hub-type smart city development project in November last year.
Cheonan Mayor Park Sang-don said, "It’s very encouraging that not only Google Cloud, Amazon, and NVIDIA but also other global companies have reached out to test their technologies in Cheonan." He added, "Based on the know-how and technology of businesses and institutions, we aim to enhance the technological capabilities of local promising startups, help them grow, and achieve regional industry development and economic revitalization."
yej@yna.co.kr
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Source: Yonhap News (January 15, 2025)
** This article was translated from Korean.